Before the Night Ends
by capitudascamelias
Summary: Sometimes it is hard to deal with some feelings we have. Sometimes, all we have is tore apart and there's only anger left. Sometimes, nothing else is enough. Set post season 3 finale, Frozen non cannon. SwanQueen.
1. Chapter 1

"I _cannot _believe I'm doing this!" Regina huffed as she walked from one side to the other of the room. "Remind me again: _why_ am I doing this?"

Emma rolled her eyes and sighed as she rubbed her temples. "Because Henry asked us to."

The brunette came to a halt and looked at the sheriff in a light blue dress as if noticing her presence for the first time that night. The long tresses had been fixed into what could be only described as a fairy braid and adorned with a delicate crown. If the mayor didn't know better, she would never thought she was looking at the bridesmaid. Or best man, given the fact that she herself was the bridesmaid.

"And because my mother wanted you to stand on her side on this happy day. Something about having family around, I think." Emma pointed out as she let herself sit on the couch. She frowned and internally cursed the heels she had to wear for the occasion.

"But they are already married!" The brunette looked at the mirror and smoothed once again her red dress. "And I'm not her family, for all that matters."

"Not in this world." Emma pursed her pink lips. "And you _did_ take care of her when she was a child."

The blonde wasn't mad about the wedding or anything. She was, in fact, very happy to be able to be with her family in such an important moment to them. However, she wasn't all that comfortable about having to be confined with the mayor for one hour before the ceremony started. Since the whole Robin situation, she had felt weird about being around the older woman, no matter how she tried to be cool about it: they had passed the point where Regina would want to throw a fireball on her, but they weren't exactly best friends either.

"Would you just relax? You look like you're the one getting married today." Emma puffed out as she stared at the brunette's _almost_-bare back.

"Well, it _could've_ been me if _someone_ hadn't brought back a certain woman who should be dead." The retort was sharp and venomous.

The blonde got up and made a motion to leave the room, not wanting to start a fight with Regina. Not only because of her mother, but mainly because she hated those fights. When they first met, the sheriff found their bickering amusing and even entertaining. Now, though, she felt horrible just to look at the other woman's face when she was hurt.

However, Emma didn't run as she thought she would do. As she reached the knob, she just took a deep breathe and turned around.

"You know what, Regina? If saying those things really make you feel better about what happened, then bring it. I will take everything and listen to every word. You can even slap me in the face if you want: I don't care. As long as that makes you happy, I will accept everything."

Dark eyes widened in surprise as the mayor stared at Emma. It took her a few seconds to face the mirror again and make her response.

"I don't need your pity."

"This is not pity. This is I trying to be a friend. I said a thousand times that I _am_ sorry for what happened, but I can't regret saving a life." The blonde took a step closer. "I do want you to be happy, Regina. Believe me or not."

"Why do you care about my happiness?" Regina turned all of the sudden, rage taking the best of her already. "Why should I believe in that? Even before you were born you got into the middle of my plans. You came here and took Henry away from me, then you broke my curse and _really_ took him. To complete that, you didn't think about your actions and destroyed the only good thing that I had left!"

"Because you're Henry's mother." It was a simple answer and an honest one. "And because I like you." She added in a soft tone.

The woman blank a few times, her mouth hanging open in shock. "You… What?"

Emma shrugged and sighed. "You became some kind of a friend to me. I don't know why, but I like you."

Regina stared at her companion for a long moment. She was speechless.

"You like me?" She asked in disbelief.

"'Course I do. You can be very annoying when you want to…" Emma placed her hands on the mayor's shoulders, who surprising enough didn't step back, although she did roll her eyes. "But who isn't?" Pink lips turned up into a grin. "Just calm the fuck down, woman."

"Language, Miss Swan." The brunette scowled.

The sheriff gave the other woman's shoulders a light squeeze before releasing her. "Everything is gonna be fine."

Regina sighed then sat down on the couch.

"I hope you are right."

* * *

><p>Music, laughing, bright lights and cheerful guests filled the luxurious ballroom where the wedding happened. It was a beautiful ceremony and all the citizens of Storybrooke had attended. It all happened similar to the Enchanted Forest's one, just that Snow wore a champagne colored, slim dress instead of a white one puffy one, David were a black suit instead of his Charming outfit and Regina was a guest and didn't barge in threatening to take everybody's happy ending away.<p>

Truth be told, the second wedding was much more beautiful and everybody looked much more elegant. The food was better, the drinks were better and electricity and plumping were things that everybody was grateful for.

Not to mention the music. Sure: everybody liked those Victorian chants and all. But damn it if Bon Jovi, Aerosmith and Celtic Woman songs weren't just perfect when played by the royal orchestra.

Emma danced with Henry for a long time and had a blast once she took her shoes off. They laughed and joked about Grumpy being all silly at the sight of Nova in her new dress. They danced and had fun just like she thought she would never have.

When she got tired, she told him to ask Gretel to dance. The teenager's face went flushed and he went rigid, but her blonde mother told him to just do it. She watched him from distance and smiled fondly when the girl accepted her son's hand.

The sheriff walked to the table and sat down for a moment. She was glad that a waiter passed by just a few moments after that and asked him a glass of water. The woman watched the party and was truly happy to be part of that. It had been a long time since last time she had any fun and sharing it with her loved ones was something she couldn't describe with words.

Her eyes scanned the room watching the smiling faces until her gaze locked with someone else's one. She smiled softly and raised her glass slightly in greeting.

Regina nodded and offered a small smile in return. There was absolutely no sign of their earlier rough moment left and Emma could only be grateful.

The sheriff finished her water and walked towards the other woman.

"Having fun?" She grinned.

"I suppose you could say that." The brunette agreed as her eyes fell on their son. "He looks happy."

"He does."

The two women watched their boy for a while in silence. It was as if their lives weren't filled with great adventures. Just like real life.

Suddenly, Emma offered her hand to Regina. The second one looked puzzled at the gesture and just furrowed her brows.

"Shall we dance?" The sheriff smirked.

The brunette woman shook her head. "I don't dance."

"I thought you were a queen."

"Queens don't dance: they watch everybody else."

"You aren't a queen anymore."

"Will you change your point every time I refuse to dance with you?"

"I will."

With a tired sigh, the mayor placed her hand on top of Emma's and let herself be led to the center of the room. It wasn't a slow song and they started dancing apart. Even with some distance between them their movements were synchronized.

The Savior was pleasantly surprised to find out that the Latina's body had also the Latina's swing. Regina had a mix of elegance and sensuality so natural that it was hard not staring when she danced. Her delicate muscles moved with such grace that it seems the woman had practiced that many times in the past.

Each new song they found their selves closer and closer to each other. What started with an innocent fun slowly turned into something else entirely. There was a point when Regina turned her back to Emma and the sheriff hugged her partner, their hips moving together as their bodies were pressed together. They seemed to forget about the rest of the world entirely as they were together like that.

Emma turned Regina to her and their stared into each other's eyes. The Savior's hands on the Evil Queen's hips, their bodies slightly sweat from their dancing, their breaths were deep and hard. Green eyes fell on red lips and then returned to dark eyes.

The blonde pulled the other woman closer and leaned in to capture her lips with her own without caring that they were surrounded by so many people in her parents' marriage. She just did what she felt like doing and damn it if it wasn't the best kiss ever.

Regina's lips were soft and moved deliciously against Emma's ones. Their tongues met in perfect synchrony, just like their bodies when they danced. It all felt amazing and natural.

Then there were the clapping and the howling. They broke the kiss suddenly and looked around, too shocked with themselves to care about the audience.

"Regina, I…" Emma cup her mouth in an exasperated way.

The brunette looked like she was on the verge of crying and, before the sheriff could say anything else, Regina ran as fast as she could away from her.


	2. Chapter 2

(_Do I wanna know?)__  
><em>_If this feeling flows both ways__  
><em>_(Sad to see you go)__  
><em>_Sort of hoping that you'd stay__  
><em>_(Baby we both know)__  
><em>_That the nights were mainly made for saying things__  
><em>_That you can't say tomorrow day_

_-__**Artic Monkeys, Crawling Back To You**_

* * *

><p>That was a cold spring night. The kind of night that has a full moon and a cool breeze that gives everything a mystic feeling. There were flowers in every branch of every tree in Storybrooke. The air smelled like a sweet mix of those flowers perfume and the ocean. It was the perfect night for a wedding.<p>

However, Emma Swan paid no mind to any of those things while she crossed every street of the sleepy town on her bare feet and her blue nightdress while she was in her mission to find Regina Mills. In her haste to go after the woman, the sheriff forgot her cellphone and her car at the party. She would sure come to regret that decision in the morning, when the cuts on her feet would really start to hurt.

The blonde woman searched through every alley and through every street. She went to the mansion at Mifflin Street and even dared right the bell. The lights were all off and the doors were locked. She thought about breaking in, but soon dismissed it. She went to the woods but didn't dare to go further inside it.

At least, she went to the beach.

Emma walked through the shore, already convinced that she had screwed up and this time there was nothing she could do to make it better. The only reason why she was there was that she wanted to be alone after all that had just happened.

She walked for a long time before she saw a figure standing in the ocean. She couldn't distinguish many forms from that distance in the dark, but she was sure it was human. She could also sense a faint of magic's signature. Nothing major, yet definitely something that caught her attention.

The sheriff jogged the best way she could with her long dress towards that person. It took her a moment to identify who was there. For a second, she was relieved that she had found the mayor, however that feeling was soon changed to confusion and apprehension. She slowed her pace and stopped when she was just behind the other woman.

"What are you doing here?" The raspy voice of the brunette indicated that she had been crying, although her tone was firm.

Emma took a step closer and her feet touched the water. "I looked for you everywhere." She explained. "I had actually gave up on finding you and came here to be alone."

"So keep walking, Miss Swan."

"Look…" Emma took another cautious step forward. "We need to talk."

"I have no interest in talking to _you_." The woman didn't turn to her companion. "And don't come any closer." She warned. The sheriff defied the brunette and took another step forward. Her dress was, now, wet at her knees and it was more difficult to keep going on.

"I'm sorry for kissing you-" She started.

"Stop!" This time Regina fully turned to her, causing the water to splash roughly. Emma saw the purple rings on the mayor's eyes but didn't stop. The blonde calculated something about four steps remaining between them and kept going.

"No. You have to hear this. I'm sorry for kissing you without asking your permission. I had no intention to offend you or anything like that –"

"I told you to stop!" The brunette screamed in rage and a blown of red magic fluid from her hand and hit Emma hard, sending the sheriff flying away across the shore.

The blonde woman fell on the dry sand with a loud thud and hissed when back and head hit the ground. She wasn't injured and she knew that Regina had done that just to keep her away and not to actually hurt her. She herself had done similar things more times that she could count. Never using magic, of course. Although she could clearly remember of some hurtful words that she had proffered before to keep people away.

"That won't work with me." She said the loudest she could. It was hard to move so she just lay there and kept talking. "I know what you are trying to do, Regina. I'm not afraid of you and I will not give up on this so easily!"

Although all she could hear were the waves breaking and all she could see was the night sky, she could sense the brunette was still there. Not only her presence, but also her magic.

"The only way of making me shut up now is to kill me." She ended with such resolution one might thought she was seriously risking her odds. They both knew that Regina could shut her up in very different ways that wouldn't end with the blonde's death. Despite that, there wasn't a new attack and Emma proceeded with her speech.

"I like you. Not only as a friend, ok? I just kissed you 'cuz of the hit of the moment. I wanted to kiss you since the day I saved Henry on the mines. Hell, I think I wanted to do that since you offered me that damned apple cyder. What was that, anyway? Love potion?" The blonde chuckled lightly in spite of the lump in her throat and the tear that fell from the corner of her eye. She tried to get up but her muscles were still numb from the harsh landing.

There was still no response from the mayor, just the ocean's cry.

"I don't regret bringing Marian back. Because not only I saved her life, but also I thought that would give me a chance with you. I never wanted you to suffer. I had no idea who she was either. I just wanted to do the right thing for _once_." Emma sighed deeply. "When I saw your face… When you looked at me that night… That broke me in thousands pieces. You were so hurt and that was because of _me_."

Emma heard someone moving on the water. She tried to get up again, but all she could was to sit with some great effort. Green eyes saw Regina walking towards her, but she could not see the other's woman face.

"Why did you kiss the pirate?" Her voice was low, controlled. The sheriff knew that tone from the time she had met with the Evil Queen.

"I was in denial. He saved David's life, I was worried about Henry and every time I looked at you, I just wanted to hug you. I thought it was wrong what I felt. What I _feel_."

"You could have stopped seeing him." She pointed out coolly.

"Yeah, I could. But when you guys came back you soon started seeing Robin and I thought that, since I couldn't have you, I would at least try to be with someone else. I wanted you to be happy. I wanted me to be happy. So I just backed away." Emma lowered her head and looked at the sand. All those years… All that time she just ran away, over and over again. Even when she stayed physically she had ran from her feelings.

"You had no right." Regina's voice was accusatory. "You had no right to kiss me!" She screamed. "You had no right to come here and destroy everything I've ever built. You had no right to take my son away, to break my curse, to get in my life and to ruin everything!"

Suddenly Emma was on the air again. This time, she was lift by an invisible force that she knew it was the brunette's magic. Regina stood there with her palms up as the weather changed around them. The wind became wild and the sea turned aggressive. Green eyes watched in horror as the other woman created a storm around them two and kept her restrained just above her head.

"YOU HAD NO RIGHT TO MAKE ME FALL FOR YOU, EMMA SWAN!" Thunders and lightings cut the sky creating angry scars in the black sky, something she had never seen before. "YOU HAD NO RIGHT TO PLAY AROUND WITH MY FEELINGS!"

"I didn't do it, Regina!" The sheriff screamed back. "I never wanted you to get hurt!"

"LIAR!" More thunders exploded around the blonde and, for the first time since she met the other woman, she actually thought that she would die by her hands. "You never liked me! YOU COULD NEVER LOVE ME!"

"I DO!" It wasn't the despair talking. That was one of the hardest things she had _ever_ said in her life and it was true. "I do _love _you, Regina."

Everything next happened so fast that all the blonde knew was that, in one moment she was on the air and then, in a blink of eyes, she was drowning. She heard the storm and then it was all silence.

And when she thought she was on the verge of fainting, she was pulled back from the water.

It had never occurred her to use magic to fight back, but she could feel it building up as a natural instinct. She kept it down, resolute to not fight Regina like that. Words and fists were understandable. Those had been her tools for her entire life. Magic, in the other hand, was something she couldn't control so well.

"That's like it feels when you can't breathe, Emma. That's how it feels to be cold and helpless." Regina approached her slowly. The storm had calmed down, but it wasn't done yet. "That's how it feels to have no control over yourself. That's not even _close_ to what it felt to be in love with you and never be able to act upon my feelings."

The brunette placed her hand over Emma's heart and slowly used her magic to take it. She couldn't retrieve it, given the power of the Savior's magic. She could, instead, squeeze it _inside_ her body. Emma screamed so loudly that her throat became sore instantly. The only thing that kept her on her feet was Regina's magic.

"_This_ is how it feels to have you hear tore apart." The brunette squeezed harder. Emma convulsed in pain. "Every time I saw you with that _pirate_ I felt like this. When I gave Robin a change, that was because Tinkerbelle had told me that he was my soul mate. He never made me feel what I felt about you, but at least I was _happy_." She swallowed hard then let go of the blonde's heart. Emma fell on her stomach, breathless.

"Why did you kiss me tonight?"

"Because I love you." It was the weak response. She had never expected things to turn out the way they did. Being honest was the only thing she could do now. Her body shook convulsively and she could feel the rest of Regina's magic across her heart.

Regina sat down on the sand as the rest of the storm dissipated. "Why?" She inquired quietly.

"I don't know." She pressed her forehead to her upper arm as she lay on the sand. "Why do you love _me_?"

A long silence spoke more than words ever would grew between them.

"I'm sorry." The brunette was the first one to break the silence with words that surprised them both.

"Me too."


End file.
